Agristability. S CRAP IT NOW.

[the big wheel]

Long over due it gets scrapped. What’s Andrews plan for it?
Why aren’t the sask party fixing it?
It obviously a shitshow costing way too much wasted money in salaries and pensions for workers and accountants and next to nothing for farmers. They all finally admitted it s horseshit just a month ago and yet no one making the move to push the idea of scrapping it totally and getting something useful.

[sumdumguy]

Long over due it gets scrapped. What’s Andrews plan for it?
Why aren’t the sask party fixing it?
It obviously a shitshow costing way too much wasted money in salaries and pensions for workers and accountants and next to nothing for farmers. They all finally admitted it s horseshit just a month ago and yet no one making the move to push the idea of scrapping it totally and getting something useful.

It is time to dump the manure on the steps of legislature or the steps of SCIC in Melville. Two years ago, our neighbour had a half section of lentils and the entire field got some red worm that ate the seeds before they emerged. When you moved the soil the seed bed was just red with these worms. He got nothing from Agristability. Weird!

[farmaholic]

You don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. Just change the water. Look, I hate it too because it is almost impossible to collect anything unless there is a near absolute disaster. And in all honesty some people may need help before the dismally low benefit trigger is reached. It really is an inadequate program, too low coverage, too slow to responde, audits if they feel they paid you a nickel too much. Maybe make the program harder to defraud....having three "accounts" in one farming operation opens up some possibilities. Stay current with their requests to keep the application forms information "reconciled" because if you do get into a claim position they will demand past discrepancies get resolved.

We only got paid once, 2004, and had to send some back too. Seems they just don't pay and forget...the subsequent year's numbers help verify the need...some accrual adjustments(prepaid and deferrals) might make a difference, selling the commodity for more than their average estimate. Most farms cash report for income tax purposes but Agristability calculations are accrual based reporting.

Flame away......

[bucket]

You don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. Just change the water. Look, I hate it too because it is almost impossible to collect anything unless there is a near absolute disaster. And in all honesty some people may need help before the dismally low benefit trigger is reached. It really is an inadequate program, too low coverage, too slow to responde, audits if they feel they paid you a nickel too much. Maybe make the program harder to defraud....having three "accounts" in one farming operation opens up some possibilities. Stay current with their requests to keep the application forms information "reconciled" because if you do get into a claim position they will demand past discrepancies get resolved.

We only got paid once, 2004, and had to send some back too. Seems they just don't pay and forget...the subsequent year's numbers help verify the need...some accrual adjustments(prepaid and deferrals) might make a difference, selling the commodity for more than their average estimate. Most farms cash report for income tax purposes but Agristability calculations are accrual based reporting.

Flame away......

What pisses me off is the mistakes they make....

I couldn't figure out how they had my wheat inventory so high....turns out they combined the cwrs with cwad. .. .not my fault it was clear on the forms as I heard her say here it is.....**** sakes....

Another mistake was I sent in my wife's forms at the same time and they put some inventory in her name....I had called about that one page may have been mixed up....no problem your pin number is at the top...so this year I am figuring their entry mistakes out for them. ...


I think they do it on purpose because I can't figure out the calculations they make. ...

The other problem is prepay in a fee a year in advance ...they can't work on 2019 until 2020 because your income tax isn't done until this time next year. ...

It's a shitty program ....and when politicians refer to it....it means they are stupid....

[shtferbrains]

When the BSE shitstorm was sucking all the equity out of cattle operations I got a GST rebate one year but no Ag stab through the whole thing.

Another Ag program that showed promise when first introduced but got worse every time they tinkered with it.

Long ways past it's best before date. If they shut it down they have to admit they got nothing.

Do the Banks still ask for participation?

[bucket]

I would like to know how lentils can drop 9 dollars a bushel and no one sees payments?

If you are consistent X number of acres with X number of cattle....chances are you will never see shit from a program...

The programs are designed by the same people that bring you 2 options for a seed tax....

[sumdumguy]

sask crop insurance should not be administering agstab !

The federal money is there but sask crop insurance doesn't pay !

Agree! RIP Insurance has it all figured out - just like all insurance companies. A fence has to be just high enough to crawl under.

[farmaholic]

Wiseguy, I stay in because it is cheap(with little chance of collecting) but we aren't in crap insurance. So..... I hail up, AgStab up, AgInvest up, and self insure a bit.

The program showed promise until the Cons(Federally and Provincially) tweaked it to almost useless.....They saw the healthy margins and needed to mitigate their risk of having to pay big time if something widespread were to happen.... "hard to believe", but they aren't stupid!

No insurance program is designed to "make money", that's not what I'm in it for, but I can pay the paltry AgStab premium...... "just in case", not like Crap Insurance....much bigger commitment for a "bit" of a better chance of collecting something, and the facade of the Gov's claiming they are "subsidizing" the premiums.

Remember, AgStab is whole farm. There can be a disaster in growing or pricing one commodity but its the farm average that determines the possibility of collecting. Shouldn't Crap Insurance cover the losses in pricing or production of single commodities?

[Guest]

Well there is no doubt that harper gutted that one

[bucket]

What irritates me is the premium that has to be paid by a deadline but they have no time limit on their dog****ing....

And do any other industries prepay a premium for their issues...

What was the premium for Evraz's 40 million?

What was the premium for the auto sector's help and forgivable loans?

the ****ing Westons didn't even pay a fine for price fixing and they are back on handouts???

[the big wheel]

What irritates me is the premium that has to be paid by a deadline but they have no time limit on their dog****ing....

And do any other industries prepay a premium for their issues...

What was the premium for Evraz's 40 million?

What was the premium for the auto sector's help and forgivable loans?

the ****ing Westons didn't even pay a fine for price fixing and they are back on handouts???

Absolutely true. There is no need to even consider revamping this thing they’ve had how many years to improve it? There shouldn’t even be a premium on crop insurance that would justify all those running around trying to be policemen administering a shit program that only works for the employees.
Speaking of which I had 2 mla s agree with me that the program isn’t just broken but it’s bad. And the response was but we can’t afford to give up those seats in Melville ridings if we cut it out.

This thing has to be demanded scrapped right now because I m also done with hearing so many ag ministers and parties proclaim when they are in power well we encourage producers to enrol and apply to agriststability we know it’s not a fit for all. Wtf it’s not a fit for anyone.
And then on the campaign trail yes we know the program doesn’t work. We need to fix it and it even gets implied to the reporters some of which have no clue that the program will fix everything from the cost of carbon to the pulse trade problem. So get rid of it that way everyone knows we literally have absolutlely nothing to work with it. As hoc is even better you only need people there in times of a disaster. You get cash right on the spot.

Why was it such a problem to have to wait for the wheat board to pay you a year later and why is it ok to have to wait from 2 to God knows how many years for this bullshit to pay out if it does.

[WiltonRanch]

When aida then cais came out my first accountant told me it was a waste of time for me. He quit and I went to a bigger accounting firm whom the first thing was I had to be in it. Told em screw it but several years later in a weak moment i agreed to go ahead. After enough stupid questions and what not I told them to stuff it. Best decision I ever made. When you’re a purely diversified operation the program would never trigger. Even BSE years where a payment might have come I know guys that had to give it back. It’s a mess of program from its beginnings. My opinion is they should scrap the mess and put some effort into fixing crop insurance or even setting up a price insurance program like with cattle. Maybe not a great idea but something to think about.

[farmaholic]

There is probably enough of a cross section, size and financial status, of farms involved in that program(along with their income tax returns) that it is a damn good barometer of the financial health of farms in general. I thought there was a comment made lately that only about 40% of farms are enrolled. Then you have to wonder about regional participation.

[the big wheel]

The way it is run and the mandate is set by the current government.
The facts are that most believe the current methods make it near impossible to trigger a payout. Yet they claim money is going out. I often wonder if this isn’t a direct way to funnel money to certain farms or corporates acting like farms.
Who is checking who gets the money and how?
Does it not seem at least a little bit strange a government program that less then 40% of farmers are enrolled in. Of that 40 possibly 10% are crooks leaving I d guess 15% that legitimately think they will get a payment and then likely 15% that are the one earth broad ass type. When you break it down that way how is this program still functioning and why?
There were once upon a time people that stated that certain farmers had special people to do their files? That even the audit team never sees, wonder if that’s true and if so Why would that be?

[bucket]

I think the program is designed to help people growing a farm ...and that's because government policy is to move to larger farms.....it's better to have one farmer on 100 thousand acre farms with employees than 100 farmers on 1000 acres each....in the political view...


Do you think the federal ag minister wants to hear a bunch of farmers bitch about a seed tax as opposed to the 100000 acre farm that doesn't give a shit. ...it's a cost of business. ....

It's easier to consolidate farms for bureaucratic gain....

They did it with railroads...then elevators and now farms....